Dale & Others,
Perhaps a legal opinion or the opinion of the Indiana Attorney General is
needed here, but the intent of Title 14, Article 21, Chapter 1 is to
protect artifacts and ancient burial grounds that are NOT covered under IC
23-14. This is covered under 14-21-1-24 (b)(2), "Cemeteries and Human
Remains subject to IC 23-14" This means (my interpetation) that the
cemeteries we are working on are NOT covered under IC 14-21-1, UNLESS it
has been identified by the Division under IC 14-21-1-15 as an "Historic
Site or Structure".
This article is designed (my opinion) to protect Indian and pre-historic
burial grounds from artifacts hunters and amature archeologists. I believe
this law came into being during the construction of the GE Plastics plant
in Mt. Vernon, IN. Construction companies inadvertently un-earthed a
pre-historic burial ground, and the site was robbed of many artifacts by
collectors and "fortune hunters" before the discovery was reported.
A "Pioneer Cemetery", unless identified by the Division under IC
14-21-1-15, is covered under IC 23-14. Perhaps the DNR is mis-interpeting
the laws somewhere, in which case a legal opinion is needed. Ihis is one
reason the INPRCP is working to get the laws changed, modified, and added.
Clear rules and laws are needed to protect both cemeteries AND ancient
burial grounds from construction companies, coal mines, farmers, and
artifacts hunters.
I have seen people with good intentions actually do more harm than good
while attempting to "clean up" an old cemetery, thus the purpose of my
articles on restoration. I am attempting to offer some guidelines that I
hope will help others see why planning and procedures are important, and
where mistakes can be made when the person actually has good intentions. A
good example of this is a cemetery in Gibson County where the base stones
were removed because they looked like "just another rock in the way of
mowing". Years later, when the headstones were recovered, there were no
bases to determine the proper location of the graves.
In part 1, I covered establishing ownership, obtaining permission, and
familiarizing yourself with the laws. I do not believe permission from the
DNR is required or needed unless special circumstances exist, as outlined
in the rules under IC 41-21-1. One paragraph from the law cannot be
arbitrarily applied without considering the application of the entire
chapter.
Lois and others in the legal field, can you help clear this up?
Ernie
At 08:32 AM 4/29/99 -0400, you wrote:
I, too appreciate Ernie's series on cemetery restoration.
However, I hate
to be the killjoy, but some of the activities he lists in Part 3 are
probably illegal without formal permission from the DNR.
IC 14-21-1-27 covers the disturbing of burial sites. "Class D felony"
doesn't sound like something I want to learn more about.